A.N.: Welcome friends! This is the first time I am writing Hermione and Percy in a pairing and I am aware that "my" Percy might be different from how other Fanfiction authors interpret him. If this is not for you, I understand.

Also, be warned. This story is an emotional rollercoaster ride. Warnings for smut, non-con, eating and sleeping disorders, substance abuse, withdrawal and adult language. If any of those are not for you, turn around and read something else.

Chapter 1: The worst possible Weasley

Hermione had always considered Arithmancy to be one of the most interesting branches of magic, as it seemed to combine Muggle mathematics with the magical world. In school, she had been fascinated by what she learned during her studies and therefore it had come as no surprise that she passed her Arithmancy NEWTs as many others with flying colours. She'd even considered a career as an Arithmancer, looking for apprenticeships in the field. Then plans for an upcoming marriage law were announced by the Ministry just after she completed her eighth year at Hogwarts. She'd put all her plans on hold, focussing on getting her private life in order first. There was no saying who she would end up with or if her Ministry-assigned husband would tolerate her travelling all around the globe, trying to restore her parents' memories and bring them back home. Therefore she left wizarding Britain only weeks before the law was passed, her mind eased by the knowledge that their partners would be selected via Arithmancy.

Shacklebolt, the new Minister of Magic, had assured them that he wouldn't leave the future generation's happiness to chance. He was aware of how much pressure the law would put onto their shoulders, but he claimed that the numerous deaths and the heavily declining birth rates left him with no other choice. Hermione understood, in a way; she had seen the numbers and figures as well. Yet she couldn't feel anything but helpless at the prospect that once again her life choices would not be her own.

But she had trusted the process, reassured by the fact that Arithmancy would not be wrong and would select a good partner for her. Only she couldn't have been more wrong. When she returned home, exhausted and emotionally drained from her weeklong visit to Australia, the Ministry letter was waiting for her on the counter of The Burrow but the name she found inside didn't make any sense to her.

Percy Ignatius Weasley

Hermione read the name several times, unable to believe what she saw. Only her eleven-year-old self would have considered Percy a good husband for her, blinded by the boy's intellect and swottiness. Back then she'd admired the boy, envying him for becoming Prefect and later Head Boy. But now, at almost twenty, she couldn't imagine a worse husband for herself. Percy was boring and narrow-minded. Yes, he loved studying and books as much as she did but that was where their similarities ended. No, this wouldn't do, this was a horrible idea!

"Hermione? You alright?"

Unbeknownst to her, a small crowd had gathered in the kitchen, Ron and Harry staring at her full of worry while Mrs Weasley stared at her full of anticipation.

"You look like you're about to cry, or puke," Ron observed, his blue eyes darting back and forth between her face and the letter in her hand. "Who is it? Who did you get?"

Hermione shook her head, pressing the letter against her chest. Then she took two steps towards the table, sitting down on one of the wooden chairs with quivering legs. This surely was a mistake, it had to be. There was no way Arithmancy could have chosen Percy as the best-suited husband for her when her mind eagerly provided her with at least a handful of better alternatives. Hell, even one of the twins would have been better suited than him!

"Hermione?"

It was Harry who sat down at her side first, his green eyes studying her full of empathy and worry. "Look, you don't have to talk about this if you don't want to. But if you want any of us to come with you when you meet your… your fiancé, then we'll be there."

Ron stared at his friend in puzzlement. "Why would we need to come with her? It's not like she got…" He paused, the colour suddenly draining from his face. "Oh Merlin, you got Malfoy, didn't you? Or McLaggen?"

If his suspicion hadn't been so ridiculous, Hermione might have been offended at the idea that Ron assumed that Arithmancy would have chosen one of them for her husband. They would have been so much worse than Percy, she realised.

"No, don't worry," she hastily assured her friend, shaking her head with a wistful smile. "It's neither of those, or even a Slytherin." She took a deep breath, steeling herself for what she had to say. "It's Percy."

For a few seconds, there was complete silence in the kitchen. She knew it must have been the shock, as Harry and Ron probably found the idea of her with the boring, bookish Weasley brother as ridiculous as she did. Only they didn't.

"Percy?" Ron asked, his voice a mixture of disbelief and something she couldn't pinpoint. "Of course it's Percy. Who else would they have chosen for our little swot?"

Her friend laughed, affectionately petting her back. "This makes so much sense."

'No wait, it doesn't!' Hermione wanted to protest, tell him how ridiculous and wrong the idea was, but Mrs Weasley was standing right behind them, squealing with excitement. She didn't want to crush the woman's hopes or talk bad about one of her sons and therefore Hermione kept her mouth shut, biting the inside of her cheek. Telling her that she was about to marry the son of hers she liked the least wasn't something a mother wanted or needed to hear.

"It does?" her hesitant question was as close as she came to voicing her doubts.

Harry and Ron nodded at her. "In a way," Harry agreed, smiling at her. "Look. You've been the one explaining to me what a complex calculation the assignment of two spouses is. Kingsley isn't leaving anything to chance here, half of the Unspeakables are working on them. And looking at Gin and me they were right, you know? They only confirmed what we knew all along."

Her friend beamed at her, his hand coming to rest on hers.

"Absolutely. Look at me and Hannah. I would have never considered asking her out but now that we're dating…" the redhead grinned, the tips of his ears reddening ever so slightly. "You know, Mione, at first I thought these Arithmancy calculations are a whole lot of Gryffin dung. It's all just a bunch of numbers and equations, right? And still… Hannah's perfect for me."

Hearing those words from the boy she'd fancied for years hurt, more than Hermione had expected it would. They'd only been a couple for a few weeks, their temperaments clashing as soon as the dust from the final battle settled and they had time to properly see each other and go on a few dates. It wasn't that they'd been unhappy together, but they realised soon enough that they didn't have much in common now that Harry was no longer in danger of being killed. In the end, Hermione and Ron had ended their relationship amicably and yet a small sliver of hope had remained that the Marriage Law would bring them back together again. Because in a way she and Ron did make sense, not just because they had a history and understood what the other one had been through.

Percy, on the other hand, had no idea. He had abandoned his family to pursue a career with the Ministry and therefore closed his eyes to what was happening after Voldemort's resurrection. Even after Harry was proven right and Fudge had to resign from his position as Minister of Magic, Percy had remained stubborn, holding onto his Ministry post instead of apologising to his family - and Harry. Only during the Battle of Hogwarts had Percy switched sides and the Weasleys had forgiven him and welcomed him back into the family. How very convenient.

It wasn't Hermione's place to judge the young Weasley of course, but she couldn't help but feel resentment towards Percy, who'd taken the easiest possible path during the war. He hadn't been in hiding, hadn't been there when The Burrow had been burned down or when they'd been attacked during Bill and Fleur's wedding. So how could someone like him understand what she'd been through or help her when she was suddenly hit by a panic attack or a nightmare?

Hermione must have been lost in thought because the next time she looked around Mrs Weasley and Ron were gone, only Harry remaining by her side. He sat there with her in silence, giving her time to gather her thoughts.

"What if Percy isn't the right man for me?" she whispered, her heart growing heavier and heavier with sorrow.

Harry looked at her, sighing. "Then you'll get a divorce after a year," he replied neutrally. "Kingsley isn't a monster, Hermione. He knows how bad it is to force us into such a situation in the first place. He's chosen Arithmancy to maximise peoples' chances for a happy marriage because, naturally, most of us haven't even considered tying the knot so soon after the war. But he also knows that Arithmancy isn't infallible, no matter what the Unspeakables claim."

Hermione nodded wistfully. Until now she would have agreed with them, claiming that Arithmancy was the best way to make a prediction, especially if one compared it to alternative methods like Divination. "It certainly has its flaws," Hermione admitted, staring at the now crumpled page in her hands. "I mean seriously Harry, Percy? Why him? Because we both like books?" She shook her head, feeling frustrated. "It's like they took the one thing we have in common and made their calculations based on this. But that's… absurd! Outrageous!"

Her friend didn't reply to this but sat with her in silence until her temper cooled down once more. Only then he said, "Who else would you want it to be? Is there anyone you…"

"Fancy?" Hermione ended Harry's sentence while slowly shaking her head. "For me, it was Ron for a long time," she admitted, her eyes staring out of the window. "But…"

"But you've come to realise that the two of you might not have been such a great idea in the end?" Harry asked, smiling at her.

Hermione frowned. "What? No! Is that… is that what he said?"

Harry hesitated. "Ron told me your break-up was amicable. He said you'd both realised that you'd probably be at each other's throats before the month was over. Is that not… Don't you agree?"

She sighed. "Yes, no, maybe. It's complicated!"

"I bet it is," Harry told her, squeezing her hand once more. "But you know… maybe it's not a bad thing the Ministry picked someone for you. Percy's not a bad lad. He's ambitious and a hard worker and so are you. He'll understand your drive for knowledge and your ambitions way better than any of us ever could. Don't you think?"

Hermione was silent at this, not wanting to admit that Harry could be right. Because a functioning relationship wasn't just about common interests or comparable life goals! "And yet he has a gigantic broom stuck in his… you know what and I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a slice of humour. He's so narrow-minded and conservative! I…"

She didn't get any further as they were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the kitchen door. A moment later it was pulled open and there he stood, Percy Weasley, looking at her and Harry with a hesitant smile. For a moment she could see his blue eyes flicker towards their entwined hands, but they quickly returned to her face, his smile widening a fraction. Hermione couldn't help but notice how unnatural and fake it looked.

"Hi, Hermione. Harry. Mum said you received your letter and I thought we should discuss some things. As we are about to get married we'll have to make some decisions and in my opinion, it is best to do that as early as possible. Are you… are you opposed to going somewhere else, a cafè maybe?"

She didn't want to, didn't want to go anywhere with that man she barely knew, least of all to discuss a marriage that hadn't been her choice. But Percy was right. They would need to talk about things and the sooner she learned what to expect from this, the better. She sighed.

"No I… We definitely need to discuss some things and I'd rather not do it here or…" She shook her head, taking a deep breath. Going to a cafè would mean meeting on neutral ground with a somewhat relaxed atmosphere. It was actually a quite sensible idea. "Let's go to a café. I'm not really hungry but…"

Percy continued to smile at her, his blue eyes studying her with somewhat unsettling intensity. It was like he was trying to read her, like a book or a formula instead of a human being. Hermione found the thought somewhat unnerving and hastily schooled her features into a mask of neutrality.

"Excellent, excellent. I know just the place," the redhead stated, seemingly nodding to himself. "Harry," he added, smiling companionably at the boy who was still sitting at her side. "I'll see you at the Ministry on Monday. I'd like your input on my review of different types of wand holders and shield vests the Ministry wants to obtain for the Auror force. How about you see me at my office after lunch?"

"Sure. I'll be there," Harry promised, smiling politely at him. Hermione could imagine that there were many things her friend would have rather done but he was most likely too polite to say so. Hermione realized that she'd better learn how to do the same. Percy would soon be her husband after all, no matter how little Hermione liked the idea.